Haha(2/2/2019)

If Dawkins is right, Then all I hear at night is the universe laughing at me,And all the stars and planets and sunsets and ocean waves I seeare surely joining in and fooling humanityIn the most absurd trick ever played

Faith and Doubt and Get out of Jail Free Cards(12/2/2018)

how many times can I return to genuine faith before I’ve used up all my get out of jail free cards?

And if I’ve doubted you before, why not again? If I’ve almost walked away oncewhat’s to keep me locked in?

If every prayer of mine Though lately, few and far between,Starts and ends with question marks,Then how many more prayers can I pray Till you and I take our separate ways?

But I think You came and ripped up all my silly cards, You stepped into my house And your words gripped my heart,You grabbed me by my shoulders, and are shaking me down of all the needless things I thought I needed now

Like certainty, answersSweet Sleep at nightMaking sure my belief is 100% rightand I feel you going with me,though you are not always in sight

And I believe you will always walk with meEven as I wade through this crippling doubt

American Passports(10/29/2018)

And one day soon in comingWe will all forgetOur american passportsAt heaven’s gatein our mad dashto gaze upon the beauty of the Lord’s face

And one daysoon in comingWe will all take a quizon who exactly God isandeverysingleone of us will flunk.

But it won’t matter, becausethe test will pass through theflames and burn to ash,and we willstill get to gaze upon thebeauty of the Lord’s facein his templebecause someone has already taken the test and passed.

And one daysoon in comingA thin blue flame will catch the corner of the earth,as a flame catches the corner of a paper,and all things will be burnedAnd not yet consumedAs the fire spreads and fills the world.what is good will be retainedwhile the slag will be removed.

The internet servers storing pornographywill be consumedas will the needles in the streetswhere heroin addicts sleep.

The dollar bills collecting dust in bank vaultsand the dollar bills shoved into old mason jars,buried underneath the oak treewill all be consumedin the thin blue flame.

All the ashes will be gathered, collectedAnd then scattered over the face of the earthfertilizing the groundand life will emergefrom what was once opposed to life.Beautiful gardens filled with fruit will growfor man and woman to pass through and strollas they go to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord’s facein his temple.

and this day is soon in coming.

when it arrives, everything sad will come untrueeverything that was once lost will be found,and everything will be ok, too.

And we will gaze upon the beauty of the Lord’s facein his temple.And our American passports will have long been turned to ash.

Symphonies (Or, On Hiking Butterfield Trail in Arkansas)(10/21/2018)

The trees have come out for the symphony.The rain drips and drops, splashing and pattering.and the trees – they stand patientlyand the rain- it opens for the featured flute soloand the soloist comes out,as the birds emerge,singing, playing, audience or noknowing their song and tunereaches far alongthe river banks and dried up falls,past bluffs and crags and claypassing painted flowers along its wayfinally reaching my weary earsears worn from sapping soundsfrom the hum of traffic patternsand construction workers.From melodies overplayedAs I try to reach that mental escape.

Yes, the tune reaches my earsrefreshing and turning my thoughtsto the beauty around

I lose myselfin the beauty around

I hike on and I hearAll nature in turn,turn to me and whisper softlyInto my resurrecting ears:

“We don’t mind you stoppingto stay for a whileBut if you goPlease go quietly.”

A woman came to Jesus onceAnd broke her alabaster jar.Anointing the messiah,She broke herself openoffering up her valued possessionAs the disciples were watching –Poking and proddingQuestioning

And taking…

And Jesus said to her“This is a beautiful thing you have doneWherever the gospel is preached in my NameWhat you have done will also be proclaimedYour aroma will permeate my story, my gospelFor all to inhale and to encounter the Divine.”

We allAs alabaster jarscontaining fragrant thingsStumble and tumbleNot nearly as dangerouslyThrough this lifeAs we ought

For in our breakingThe worldEncounters the divine facein passing aromas,hints of grace

Tres Leches Cake(10/13/2018)

I saw my savior being crucifiedjust the other day

I saw him portrayed on an electronic billboard signHe was bloodied, battered, and hung up to diepictured passionately crucifiedHands nailed and arms spread widewith nothing but a hurricane-force love in his eyes

The sign read – I love you this much

And before I could process the imageryof my savior dying for you and for me

the electronic billboard sign flashed on to another advertisement

By the way, did you know Ted’s is now serving Tres Leches Cake?I can already hear someone, “It’s to die for….”

2 thoughts on “Weekly-Ish Poems”

I wonder if it has to do with power? If you see my broken for all that I am, there is a sense of giving over control and power not just to what’s being broken for (Jesus), but also that power is given up to those who see the breaking (Disciples), whether we want them to or not.